


Pawprints

by Era_Penn



Series: imaginetonyandbucky fills [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cute, Dogs, Fluff, Interfering Friends, M/M, Puppies, Training, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-24 01:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7487355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Era_Penn/pseuds/Era_Penn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Imagine Pepper got Tony a puppy but Tony isn't sure how to raise him/her correctly so he goes to see Bucky, a professional trainer, who is a retired army dog trainer (after an accident that cost him his arm). Bucky is still kinda gruffy after his hard life experiences, but finally warms up to cute Tony who loves his doggy and is so afraid of doing wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pawprints

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on [tumblr](http://imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/).

Pepper swept out in a whirlwind of regal superiority and smugness, and Tony was left to stare at the… _thing_ infesting his workshop. It was at least an adorable thing, Tony must admit. It had white front paws, with a brown stripe right above the white, and then black fur covering the rest of it’s body and feet, except for a funny white spot on its chest and the same stripes decorating the end of its tail. It looked up at him past its white muzzle with black and brown ringed dark eyes, tongue hanging out. Its floppy ears bounced.

“Seriously, Pepper, this is such a bad idea,” Tony grumbled.

The puppy perked up and yipped at him, stumbling over its own feet on the approach.

Tony snorted at it. “Go away,” he grumbled, pushing it back with a foot.

Undeterred, the puppy stumbled closer again, watching Tony with adoration. 

“Stop it,” Tony said. “Stop, you don’t want to be like that. I can’t even take care of myself, let alone a tiny vulnerable adorable mutt.” He leaned over to toss it away, and it licked his fingers and eagerly rubbed its fur along his arm, yipping and bouncing happily.

Dammit.

“Fine! Fine, you can stay. Don’t expect me to be nice, though. I am not nice. I am a heartless bastard. Got it?”

It licked his fingers.

Tony sighed. “I suppose you need a name. Pepper said you’re a girl.” He thought about it for a long time, getting lost in thought. He was only brought back to the present at a loud crashing sound. The puppy sat blinking, Dummy’s most recent smoothie mixture tipped all over her fur. Tony startled himself with a laugh. How long had it been since he last laughed, anyway. He remembered some anime he once watched, with a clumsy priestess. “Miko,” he decided. “Your name is Miko. Jarvis, set alarms so I don’t accidentally kill her.”

“You would not, sir,” Jarvis said, affronted on Tony’s behalf.

Tony laughed self-deprecatingly. “Yeah. Yeah, I really would. Just... “

Jarvis sighed. “Perhaps you should take her through an obedience class?” The AI suggested. “I have already ordered relevant supplies.”

“Pepper said she was housebroken already.”

“Yes, sir. But she has not been trained otherwise.”

Tony thought about it. He would have to go out, and take her, and… He looked at Miko. Seriously, what was Pepper thinking? He’d never successfully taken care of anything in his life. Hell, he’d killed a cactus. He hadn’t realized that was possible. Tony taking care of a dog was tantamount to animal abuse.

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be good,” he said, and scooped the messy dog up. “How. How do I wash her without hurting her?”

“I believe water and baby soap will be sufficient for now, sir, until the pet shampoo arrives.”

“But what if I accidentally drown her? Or, or get it in her eyes?”

“You won’t, sir.”

Tony sighs. He will, though. He always hurts everything he loves.

* * *

James Barnes was not expecting this when he got a knock on his door. 

“Hi. Sorry if I’m being super rude. I just. Um. You train dogs, right?”

James wasn’t entirely sure whether the frankly adorable man standing on his porch and holding an armful of wriggling puppy was a dream or not. He had brown, messy hair, warm, desperate brown eyes that looked up at him with more desperate hope than most dogs did, and was entirely too thin.

“Not anymore,” James finally said. “I’m retired.”

The man nodded rapidly. “Right. Well. Um.”

They stood in awkward silence for a long, long time. “Hi, I’m James,” James said.

“Tony,” the man offered. “I was hoping that you could help me train my dog? I don’t - my friend got her for me, and I have no idea how to properly take care of a puppy. Hell, I can’t even take care of a plant. I have no idea what she was thinking. But now I have Miko, and I would like to not hurt something, for once, and -”

“Hi, Tony,” James said, lips twitching at the rant.

Tony was quiet for a second. “I can pay you,” he offered, and that was the moment the puppy managed to wriggle free. She promptly leaped to the ground and jumped up on James, eagerly seeking attention. “Miko - Miko, no, stop,” Tony said, grabbing the large puppy and trying to tug her away.

James laughed, and knelt down. “Hey there, pretty girl,” he crooned at her. “What breed are you, hm?”

“I have no idea,” Tony mumbled. “Pep got her at a shelter. They said there’s some Bernese Mountain Dog in her, but also something small, because she’s a little smaller than they usually are, and possibly some sort of shepherd based on the ears and energy.”

“Oh, definitely some shepherd,” James agreed.

Tony just stared at him with the dog in faint desperation. “I mean, you’re retired, right, I can just - I mean, this is New York, I’m sure I can find - sorry for bothering you -”

“Hey now, I didn’t say no,” James said. The dog was in perfect shape, but Tony… well, James knew a fellow broken soul when he saw one. “This little beauty deserves the best.”

Tony promptly relaxed a lot. “Oh, good. So I’ve been feeding her this stuff - I have a picture hang on - is that right? And how much exercise does she need, I’m really very busy all the time, and -”

“Slow down, Tony,” James said. “One step at a time. Trust me, the dog will love you even if you get soap in its eyes.”

For some reason, that made Tony start laughing hysterically.

* * *

Tony watched as James led Miko through her commands. She’d learned fast, and proved to be very intelligent. She eagerly followed commands of sit and come - she had a harder time with stay, but Tony really cared much less than he should, because her eagerness to be friends was really endearing. She walked well on a leash, now, though the occasional squirrel still got her tugging against the restraint. Most importantly, she knew when to leave an item alone; he didn’t want her getting into trouble in the workshop. At Tony’s request, James had even taught her the commands in French, both because he thought it would be funny and because it made it less likely some asshole on his board of directors could be a dick to the dog.

“Your turn,” James said, drawing Tony out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” Tony asked, trying to focus on the words and not the very pretty mouth making them.

“She’s learned all the commands. Now it’s your turn. Call her over.”

Tony could see Miko actually staying across the room, trembling with the desire to come over and play. “Um,” he said, “Okay. _Ici_ , Miko.”

She dashed over at once, leaping up to lick his face. “ _Coucher_ ,” Tony commanded, and she resorted to bumping against his legs and whining for attention instead. Tony laughed and rubbed her ears. “ _Bon, Miko, bonne fille,_ ” he praised.

“Looks like you’ve got it down,” James said cheerfully.

Tony grinned and leaned over to clip the leash onto Miko’s collar. She leaned against his legs. Tony looked up at James. “Thank you,” he said. “You’ve helped so much, you have no idea - I’ll have the last check to you by Friday.”

“No worries,” James said easily. “She’s a beauty.”

There was a short silence, Tony shifting a bit uncomfortably. Just when he finally opened his mouth to ask James if he wanted to get dinner with him, he heard keys jingling in the lock behind him. He jumped a bit when the door swung open.

“Hey, James - oh. Hello.”

Turning, Tony came face to face with a blonde adonis. He gulped. Even if James was gay, there was no way, absolutely no way Tony could compete with the blonde-haired blue-eyed hulking mass of goodness that had just walked in the door.

“Steve, you’re back! This is Tony. Tony, this is Steve.”

“Um, hello,” Tony said.

“Hi! And if you’re Tony, this must be Miko.”

Miko instantly moved forward for attention - she recognized her name, and she loved getting petted. 

“Aren’t you pretty!” Steve praised, running his hands through her fur and laughing when she managed to lick his nose. “Yes, you are,” he said. “Almost as pretty as Bucky thinks your owner is,” he hummed.

“Steve!” James protested, turning red.

Steve smirked at him. “What was that? Not going to wax poetic about the _chocolate depths of his eyes_ or the _adorable rambling, Stevie, you have no idea_ -”

James practically yelped and shoved Steve out of the doorway and into the house. Tony watched him, surprised.

“Sorry about that,” James mumbled, turning around. “Steve’s like an annoying kid brother, he never shuts up - it’s even worse now that he’s gigantic -”

“Want to go to dinner?”

James blinked, and Tony fidgeted, because he hadn’t really thought that through very well.

Miko woofed, breaking the tension as she wound through their legs happily, nearly knocking Tony over. James caught his arm and steadied him as he nearly fell.

“Dinner sounds great,” he said.

Tony beamed.


End file.
